The Heart of War
by FirenIce15
Summary: Ares decides to make Athena and the others pay for Xena's death at the end of season 5. The only one who can stop him is dead or so everyone thinks but is she? Oneshot


The Heart of War

Summary: Ares decides to make Athena and the others pay for Xena's seeming death at the end of season 5. His plan is to make them mortal by killing or converting all their followers, which unleashes a bloodbath unlike anything Greece has ever seen before and the other gods can't stop him.

Pairings: Ares/Xena

Rating: T

Genre: Action/Drama

Legal Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, isn't mine

Ares had just finished saying his last words to Xena, finally confessing his love when she was no longer able to hear him. He had just closed the coffin when he felt a familiar presence materialize behind him. Quickly he pulled himself together, he couldn't let anyone see him all broken up over the death of one mortal not even Dite.

"Go Away, Dite" Ares ordered

"Don't do this Ar" Aphrodite responded "Don't try to shut me out, not now!" She closed the distance between them and gently placed her hand on his arm "Come on Ares, for once let me help you"

"I don't need any help" Ares snapped as he wrenched his arm away from hers

"Ares, the only woman you have ever truly loved is dead, you need help to get over it anyone would." Aphrodite said

"I'm fine" Ares denied "besides since when do you care?"

Aphrodite slapped him "That was WAY uncalled for. You're my brother and I love you, I always have and you know it."

If anyone else had smacked him like that he would have incinerated them…well unless it had been Xena but he let Aphrodite get away with it because he knew she was right. She had always been the only member of his family that he'd truly cared about and he knew that she loved him…that had gotten them into trouble when they were young, they hadn't realized that love could take more forms that just romantic love.

"Besides, you're not the only one who's grieving here. Xena and Gabby were my friends; the only real gal-pals I've ever had. They didn't resent me for being prettier than they were-"

"Xena was prettier than you anyway" Ares said hoping the insult would make Aphrodite upset so she'd leave, insulting her was his tried and true way of getting her to leave him alone when he didn't want to deal with her but this time it didn't work.

"Not to you" Aphrodite admitted "You love her so of course you're going to think that she's the most beautiful woman that's ever lived but the rest of the world knows _I'm_ the prettiest of all. Anyway, as I was saying they liked me for me not because they were afraid I'd hurt them or they thought they could get stuff from me."

"If you're grieving so much, how come I don't see any tears?" Ares interjected, he had noticed that she was wearing a black dress instead of her usual pink

"Because I cried myself dry before I came, I know how much you hate weeping women" Aphrodite explained.

It was true, normally he couldn't stand to be around women who were crying, Xena was the only exception. Ares hated Xena's tears because he hated anything that made her upset but it hadn't stopped him from holding her when she cried her heart out after she found Solan's dead body. He would have held done the same when her brother Lyceaus was killed but he hadn't known her at the time.

"Ares, neither one of us should be alone right now-"

"Why don't you get one of the others to help you then? I'm sure Hephaestus would be happy to have you crying on his shoulder." Ares said

"Actually no, Hephy hates watching women cry almost as much as you do" Aphrodite said "Besides, the others are too busy celebrating that the Bringer of Twilight is dead." She added bitterly which in hindsight was a colossal mistake.

"WHAT?!"Ares exclaimed furiously "My chosen is dead and they're celebrating it?! I knew they hated me but-"

"No!" Aphrodite said hurriedly, she was in full damage control mode now "it's not Xena's death they're celebrating-its Eve's…you know the child prophesied to cause _all_ our deaths, including yours."

Ares wasn't remotely mollified but with a supreme amount of effort he controlled himself so he could hopefully fool Aphrodite into thinking he was; if she had any idea that he was plotting revenge, she would try to stop him. "So why are you here?" he repeated "even if the others aren't upset. You seem to be fond of Hercules, why don't you go bother him?"

"Because Ares, Hercules IS sad about Xena's death but he has friends to help him, you don't." Aphrodite said "Misery loves company Ares, solitude is the LAST thing you need right now."

"Maybe your misery loves company" Ares responded "but mine hates it, so if you want to help me so much, LEAVE! I don't care or want to know where you go, as long as it's out of my sight!"

Aphrodite sighed, she knew that when Ares got like this there was NO reasoning with him "Fine, I'll go but when you wise up and realize that you need somebody to lean on, don't come crying to me without expecting to hear an 'I told you so'!" she said and then she left

Once Ares was sure that his meddling sister was gone, he turned back to Xena's coffin and the longer he looked at it the more his rage began to build and finally when it seemed he was physically unable to get any angrier he said "I swear on the River Styx that I will avenge you Xena. Athena and the others will curse the day they dared raise their hands against you, I promise you that."

Ares then teleported to his temple in Amphipolis, after all there was no better place to begin avenging his beloved warrior princess than her hometown.

There was only one priest in the main chamber when he arrived but that was fine, he only needed one for this.

"You, priest" Ares said "I have a job for you."

"Lord Ares, you honor me with you presence-"the priest began but Ares cut him off

"Save your monologues, I'm the god of war not drama" Ares snapped. Normally he enjoyed listening to his priests tell him how great and powerful he was but right now he had no patience…correction make that he had even less patience than normal. "Send a message to every warlord and bandit horde in Greece. I'm going to war and I want them all here one week from today."

"One week, but Lord Ares-"the priest tried

"Are you questioning me?!" Ares said and he ignited a fireball his hand, ready to throw

"My Lord please-most of your strongest warlords are on the borderlands, they will need at least two weeks to get here, three would be better if you want them to bring their armies with them."

Ares hated to admit it but the man did have a point so the god of war decided to spare the man's life. He got rid of the fireball and declared "Fine, I'll give them 3 weeks they are only mortals after all but after that I am going to war with or without them. Anyone who shows up after the 3 weeks will have to catch up to me, if they can but I want the word out _today_ , understood?"

"Yes, my lord. I will have the scribes take down the words and the messengers will be sent out today." The priest said knowing that any other response would mean certain death…he had never seen Ares so angry as he was right then not even after being bested by Hercules

"See that you do." Ares said. He didn't wait for a response before teleporting to the Halls of War for some training. He spent the entire 3 weeks pounding on his magically animated training dummies and then just before he left he called Discord to him. Ares was no fool, he knew Discord had been involved in the hunt for Xena's child even though she had tried to hide it from him but he decided that he'd let her think that she had gotten away with it for now…as long as she was useful to him. However the moment her usefulness ended, Discord would feel every bit of his wrath just like the rest of his so called family; except Aphrodite, she was the only Olympian who hadn't taken any part in it so she alone would be spared as long as she stayed out of his way.

It didn't like long for Discord to arrive.

"You called?" Discord said

"Yes I did, thank you for pointing out the obvious" Ares responded

Discord opened her mouth to respond but Ares waived her off

"Anyway, I called her because I'm going to war-"

"Oh, joy watching more men killing each other…how fun" Discord muttered softly, so softly that she thought Ares wouldn't be able to hear it but she was wrong

"Who said I would only be watching?" Ares asked

Discord blinked in surprise, both because of what Ares said and because she wasn't being zapped for speaking like that "You plan to take the field yourself, but that's forbidden" she said, wisely deciding not to comment on the not zapping part in the interest of self-preservation

"By Zeus but he's dead and I say his stupid rules can go to Tartarus along with him." Ares replied "so yeah, I am going to take the field and you could too but since you're not interested-"

"Wait" Discord "I've changed my mind, I'd LOVE to go to war with you, when do we leave?"

Ares smirked "Right now" he then teleported both of them to his temple in Amphipolis.

Amphipolis was not a particularly large town and so the Temple of Ares didn't have enough room for all the men who had answered the war god's call, in fact that vast majority had to wait outside. There were so many people that most of the men didn't notice Ares and Discord suddenly appear in their midst. Ares took care of that by shooting a fireball over his head.

"I am pleased to see so many men answered my call to arms" Ares began

"Are we going against the followers of Eli?" one of the men asked eagerly

Ares responding my zapping the idiot with lighting, he didn't use enough to kill this time but the man would be in great pain for quite a while. "Let that be a lesson to all of you, I HATE being interrupted. As for the followers of Eli, they're gnats as far as I'm concerned. If they get in the way of our objective, sure go ahead and cut them down but if they run, don't waste your energy pursing them. We are going after the Olympian gods starting with my good for nothing Sister Athena."

"Why?" some idiot asked Ares zapped that idiot too "You don't need to know that" he said

"How are we supposed to fight a god?" someone else muttered hoping Ares wouldn't hear

Ares heard it but let this one slide since it was actually a legitimate question "You're not, you're going after her mortal followers. I'll handle Athena myself."

Many of the men were relieved at that

"You're also going after her temples, the priests are to be killed if they refuse to renounce Athena, everything else inside is fair game, take what you want and burn the rest."

"Does that include the gold?" another solider questioned eagerly

"Absolutely, gold's all yours-I have no use for it" Ares replied

The men got very excited then, looting the temple gold was very appealing

"Now, our first target is the temple of Athena, here in Amphipolis, are you with me?" Ares said

"Ares, Ares, Ares" the men began chanting in response.

In truth, the temple was a VERY soft target. The locals had been boycotting it since Athena's attack on the village a couple of months earlier. Athena had left a small force there to protect her temple from looters but they were no match for the massive force Ares had assembled. Those few who didn't immediately surrender were cut down mercilessly. The ones who surrendered were given a choice, renounce Athena or die. The ones who renounced were allowed to either join Ares' main army or go to one of his temples and join the temple guard, either way they were closely watched to make sure they didn't worship Athena in secret.

Ares' men then began to sack the temple proper. Ares didn't actively take part in the sacking, he just sat back and waited for the explosion. It arrived a few seconds after his men smashed the main altar.

"Ares!" Athena screamed angrily as soon as she was done materializing "What do you think you're doing?!"

Ares raised an eyebrow "Really, you can't tell, and people actually think that YOU'RE the smart one."

"I know what you're doing, Ares!" Athena snapped "Attacking each other's temples is FORBIDDEN!"

"So is killing other god's chosen" Ares responded "that didn't stop you from killing Xena."'

"That was her own fault" Athena responded "she took poison."

"Because you backed her into a corner" Ares countered

"That was her fault too" Athena said "if she had just given me that cursed brat like I wanted her to in the first place she and her friend would still be alive. If you want to blame anyone for Xena's death blame her or better yet, blame Eli for putting the wretched thing in her to begin with."

"Oh, I do blame Eli" Ares responded "in retrospect, I gave him FAR too clean a death. I won't make that mistake with you. Try and deny it all you like sis, but the fact is that my chosen is dead because of you and you're going to pay and now your precious daddy isn't here to save you."

"I don't need saving" Athena snapped and threw a fireball at him but Ares easily sidestepped it. The fireball hit the only banner that Ares' men hadn't already torn down yet and incinerated it

"This isn't over" Athena said and teleported away

"Of course not" Ares agreed "It's only the beginning"

A few months later Ares and his army were marching through a narrow pass toward another village when they encountered the village militia with Hercules and Ioleus at the vanguard.

Ares turned to Discord "Take the men on ahead to the village, I'll handle my brother"

Discord smirked at the mortals across the way and then vanished along with Ares' army

Hercules swore, he hated it when gods did that

"Ioleus, take the men back to the village, leave Ares to me."

"Why are you doing this, Ares?" Hercules demanded "Why are you attacking these people, they've done nothing to you."

"Please, brother" Ares scoffed "you really think I care about a bunch of pathetic farmers from a flyspeck village like this. No, I'm not here for them, if they want to live all they have to do is walk away. I'm here to destroy the temple of Athena."

"Why?"

"Why, haven't you heard? Athena and the others killed Xena!" Ares replied

"So take it up with them" Hercules said

"I am" Ares said "I'm getting rid of Athena's followers so she'll be reduced to a mere mortal and the others will follow then Xena will be able to rest knowing her death has been avenged."

"Xena wouldn't want that, Ares" Hercules responded "Xena wouldn't want to be avenged if it meant hurting one innocent person, let alone the dozens you've already killed and the hundreds more you're planning, you know that!"

"Don't you DARE talk about her, if you hadn't stolen her from me, she'd still be alive!" Ares responded and tried to zap him with lighting.

Hercules darted behind a nearby boulder "I didn't steal anyone Ares" he said when the lighting stopped "Xena never belonged to you or anyone but herself. She chose her own path, she didn't want to be just a pawn in your evil schemes, and she wanted to do something good with her life."

Ares was too angry to even bother trying to respond verbally. He threw more lighting at Hercules. It took a while but Hercules managed to trick Ares into burying himself under a bunch of rocks. Once that was done, he ran back to the village. To his horror it was in flames by the time he arrived, his spirit was lightened when he found Ioleus, his face was blackened by smoke but he was very much alive.

"Discord suddenly vanished with Ares' men, no idea where they went" Ioleus told him

"Probably to dig their boss out of the avalanche he dropped on himself." Hercules replied

Ioleus looked at him, confused

"Never mind" Hercules said "Let's get the survivors out of here."

While they were walking Ioleus asked "did you notice the look in Ares' eyes?"

Hercules shrugged "What about it?"

"I swear I've seen that look somewhere before…but I can't put my finger on where"

"I'm sure it will come to you eventually" Hercules assured him

A few months after that Athena and her most trusted warriors were gathered around a map of Greece. The map had several flags on it, each flag marked a spot where Ares had attacked a temple. The majority of them were Athena's but not all…Athena was the only Olympian with an army that could match the size of Ares' so the others were depending on her to protect their temples as well as her own. Admittedly many of them like Apollo and Hades had small contingents of soldiers but they could do little more than annoy Ares with small hit and run attacks on his flanks.

"I don't get it" one of the warriors said "these attacks seem totally random, how are we supposed to figure out where he plans to strike next"

"That's the point" Athena explained "he wants us to spilt our forces trying to protect all the temples while he keeps his own concentrated so he can ram right through us." So far it had been a winning strategy for Ares

"He teleports his army all over Greece, can't you do that for us?" one of the other warriors questioned "Yes, but I won't know which temple is being attacked until a lot of the damage has already been done. That is why I have placed units at the temples to try and give me some advance warning." Athena answered

"Can't we attack some of Ares' temples?" another warrior suggested "force him to divide his forces some to defend his temples?"

"Ares doesn't have all that many" Athena replied "Plus, we are spread too thin as it is." Besides Athena's pride would not allow her to stoop to Ares' level. "We'll have to pull back from some of the smaller temples."

"But my goddess-"one of the warriors protested

"I don't like it either" Athena responded "do any of you have a better idea?"

None of the warriors spoke

"I thought not" Athena said

A few months after that

Hercules paid a visit to the Oracle of Delphi

"How do I stop Ares?" he asked her

"You cannot stop him, only the heart of war can douse the fires of war. If the heart is not freed, war will burn Greece until only love remains." The Oracle answered

"What's the heart of war?" Hercules asked but the oracle did not reply.

Disappointed Hercules walked out of the temple

"Well, what did she say?" Ioleus asked eagerly

"She said that only the heart of war could douse the fires of war" Hercules answered

"Wait so Ares' heart has been sealed away somewhere? That explains SO MUCH about Ares" Ioleus

"I don't think the heart of war is a literal heart Ioleus" Hercules

"What do you think it is?" Ioleus asked

"I don't know" Hercules admitted "but I bet my sister does" he then began walking to a nearby temple of Aphrodite

"Why are we here?" Ioleus asked

"Because if anyone can tell us what and where the heart of war is, I bet it will be Aphrodite, she knows Ares better than just about anyone." Hercules answered

"APHRODITE, WE NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" Ioleus

"I don't think that's going-"Hercules began but Aphrodite cut him off by arriving in her usual shower of gold sparks…some of the fringes of her dress were burning

"APHRODITE YOU'RE ON FIRE!" both men yelled

"Thanks boys, I knew this dress made me look good" Aphrodite answered, genuinely surprised and pleased by the compliment

"No, Aphrodite-well yes but you're actually on-"Ioleus tried to explain but Hercules didn't bother, he grabbed a nearby amphora of wine and dumped it over her, extinguishing the flames.

Aphrodite sputtered for a moment and then demanded "what the hades was that for?!"

"Your dress was burning" Hercules explained

"Huh?" Aphrodite asked and examined her dress, despite the wine stains, the damage to the fringes was visible "That's just great, now you and Ares both owe me new dresses, one each"

"Ares attacked you?" Ioleus questioned

Aphrodite nodded "I think he's tired of me trying to talk him out of this rampage he's on."

"That's what we actually wanted to talk to you about" Hercules began "The oracle told us that only the heart of war could douse the fires of war."

"Then WHY are you wasting time yakking with me, Hades is the one you need to talk to" Aphrodite said

"Hades, what does he have to do with it?" Ioleus asked

"Don't you know who the heart of war is?" Aphrodite questioned

Hercules and Ioleus exchanged looks "don't you mean what?" Hercules asked

"No, who the heart of war is the only person Ares has ever loved" Aphrodite said "Duh!"

Both men raised their eyebrows "You mean there's actually someone on this earth that Ares loves besides himself?" Ioleus asked

"Not anymore" Aphrodite answered "not since Xena died."

"So you're saying that Xena is the heart of war?" Hercules said

"Yes, why do you think Ares didn't kill her when she left his army?" Aphrodite questioned

"Like he did, Serna" Hercules stated

Aphrodite nodded "Ares doesn't accept resignations, it's a lifetime of service or death."

"That's where I've seen that look before" Ioleus blurted out

"You want to enlighten the rest of us to what you're talking about?" Aphrodite questioned

"The look in Ares' eyes the last time we saw him, is that same look that was in Herc's eyes after Deinara was killed" he turned toward Hercules "remember when the ONLY thing you cared about was getting revenge on Hera?"

"Yeah, until I went to underworld and spoke to Deinara" Hercules said and then he turned back to Aphrodite "Ares is a god, can't he just poof down there and talk to Xena anytime he wants?"

"Yes" Aphrodite said "but he won't, he feels that he can't face her until he's avenged her."

"But she wouldn't want to be avenged, not like this" Hercules protested

"I know that, but Ares won't accept it" Aphrodite said

"So we have to go the Underworld and convince Hades to let Xena come back…yeah that'll be easy" Hercules stated

"Hades owes me a couple of favors" Aphrodite said "I'll go" and then she teleported away

"Make it quick, Aphrodite" Hades ordered when the love goddess appeared in front of him "Ares' temper tantrum upstairs has me weeks behind schedule"

"That's what I want to talk to you about, you need to let Xena go back" Aphrodite urged

"I can't do that" Hades said

"You've got to!" Aphrodite responded "Xena's the only one that can stop Ares"

Hades opened his mouth to interject but Aphrodite plowed over him "The oracle said that the fires of war will burn down all of Greece unless the heart of war is freed!"

Hades tried to interject again but again he was ignored "Give Ares his warrior babe back and he'll calm down and you'll stand a chance a getting caught up and-"

"APHRODITE!" Hades yelled

Aphrodite blinked

"I can't release Xena because I don't have Xena"

"What do you mean you don't have Xena?!" Aphrodite responded

"Xena was an Amazon, they have their own land of the dead, they don't come to me" Hades explained

Aphrodite shook her head "Xena wasn't Amazon" that was a common mistake that people made "The Amazons admired her but she wasn't one of them, she should be here"

"I haven't seen her" Hades said

"Are you sure?" Aphrodite questioned "maybe you just missed her in the crowd"

Hades gave her an annoyed look "I think I'd have noticed Xena" he sighed "but we can check the archives" he got up and began walking away

"Archives, wh-hey, wait!" Aphrodite said and then hurried after him

Hades led Aphrodite to a dusty room filled with scrolls "Welcome Aphrodite to the Underworld Archives

"Ugh, you have GOT to get yourself a better maid down here" Aphrodite coughed and waved her hand in front of her face

Hades ignored her "Every soul that enters the Underworld is recorded here. They are sorted chronologically by date of death and then alphabetically by name" he rummaged around some until he found the scroll for the day Xena died and then he skipped straight to the Xs "I see a Xe and Xenon but no Xena"

"That can't be" Aphrodite protested

"See for yourself" Hades responded and handed the scroll to Aphrodite

Aphrodite looked over the scroll and she didn't see Xena's name either "NO, where is she?!"

"Was she buried properly?" Hades questioned

"Yes" Aphrodite answered "Ares gave her a funeral fit for a queen, I saw part of it myself."

"Did he remember to give her a coin for Charon?" Hades asked

"I don't know" Aphrodite admitted "I didn't see that part"

"That's probably the hold-up" Hades said "Charon won't take anyone across without payment so if she doesn't have a coin, her soul is wondering the shores of the Styx…you could search for a thousand years and never find her."

"That what do we do?!" Aphrodite asked desperately

"Go to Xena's grave and check for a coin, if she doesn't have one, give her one that'll at least get her to the back of the line…I don't usually let people cut but I want Ares' lunacy to stop as much as anyone so, I'll make an exception for Xena if I or my people see her…just don't forget to check everywhere for a coin, including under her tongue."

"Eww!" Aphrodite protested "Can't you do it?"

Hades gave her a flat stare that said clearly 'I am not going to even dignify that with an answer' and teleported away

Glumly Aphrodite teleported back to where Hercules and Ioleus were waiting

"Where's Xena?" both men asked upon seeing the love goddess had returned alone

"Hades says he doesn't have her." Aphrodite said

Both men were shocked

"We have to check and make sure that Ares gave her a coin for Charon."

"But no one knows where Xena is buried" Ioleus protested

"No one mortal, you mean" Aphrodite explained "I know where Ares buried Xena and Gabby, now let's go" she then teleported the three of them to Xena's tomb

"Wow, nice place" Ioleus stated when they arrived "didn't think Ares had an artist in him"

"Well he is a god" Hercules replied "he probably just snapped his fingers and poof"

"Yeah, I know" Ioleus agreed "but it does look good"

Hercules looked down at Xena's coffin thanks to the ice, her body was perfectly preserved, and she looked like she was just sleeping. Hercules opened the coffin and began searching her bags "No coin" he announced when he finished

"Hades said to check under tongue" Aphrodite said

"Oh, come on" Hercules protested "No one's put the coin there in centuries"

"Ares might have" Aphrodite replied "he likes to go old school sometimes"

"You know that's disgusting right?" Hercules questioned

"Duh!" Aphrodite answered "that's why I'M not doing it. Come on Mr. Brave Strong Hero, what are you afraid of?"

Hercules glared at Aphrodite and then put his hands on Xena's face but just before he could force her mouth open. She spat a coin at him.

"Ugh" Hercules said and brushed his face off

Xena sat up shocking everyone else

Aphrodite was the first to recover "Warrior babe! You're alive!" she exclaimed happily and then pulled Xena into a tight embrace

Ioleus began trying to lift the lid on Gabrielle's coffin but it was too heavy for him.

"I got it, Ioleus" Hercules said and lifted the lid of easily

After a moment Xena gently but firmly pushed Aphrodite off her and asked "Where's Gabrielle?"

"In the coffin next to you" Aphrodite answered

Xena climbed out of her own coffin and moved toward Gabrielle's and just then Gabrielle's eyes flickered open but she was facing Ioleus

"Ioleus?" she questioned not expecting to see him

Ioleus smiled "Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty"

Gabrielle smiled back at him

Xena turned to Hercules and asked "Where are we?"

Hercules shrugged

"Mt. Etna" Aphrodite answered "Ares brought you here after we thought you died." She continued on as realizations hit her "we never found Eve's body so we assumed it burned up in the fire, but it didn't, did it, this was all one of your clever plans wasn't it?!"

Xena refused to answer the question, that silence was all Aphrodite needed to confirm her suspicions

"How long have we been here?" Gabrielle asked

"About a year or so" Hercules answered

"And during that time Ares lost whatever shred of sanity he had." Ioleus added

"What's he done?" Xena asked, dread filling her

"He's been ravaging Greece far more so than ever before, burning villages, murdering priests and destroying temples." Hercules said

"Ares said Greek temples were off limits according to Olympian law…otherwise I would have burned some down when I was…earlier" Xena informed them

"Yeah, well apparently Ares doesn't care anymore" Ioleus muttered

"But why?" Gabrielle asked

"Because Xena died in his arms" Aphrodite said sadly

"That wasn't supposed to happen" Xena stated "I didn't expect him to show up"

"You should have" Aphrodite told her

"He didn't come when Caesar crucified Gabrielle and me, Eli brought us back" Xena pointed out

"Because he couldn't go to you. Zeus had exiled Ares to the North until he formed a military alliance with the Norse gods for whatever stupid attack he was planning and he didn't manage to get that done until after Eli had already raised you from the dead." Aphrodite explained "Ares doesn't express it well a lot of the time Xena but he loves you and deep down you know it."

Xena didn't know how to respond to that

Hercules came to her rescue "Anyway, I asked the Oracle of Delphi how to stop Ares from rampaging and she said that only the heart of war could douse the fires of war."

"And you think I'M this heart of war" Xena concluded

"Duh" Aphrodite said "of course you are. He started rampaging Greece to avenge your death."

Xena shook her head "the people of Greece didn't kill me."

"No, Athena and the others drove you to it but since he can't kill them, he's going to take away their power by killing or converting their followers-"

"Take away their power?" Hercules asked

"…An Olympian god's power comes from the worship of their followers without any followers, we lose everything even our immortality." Aphrodite confessed

"What about Callisto and Valaseca?" Gabrielle questioned "they didn't have any followers but they both seemed pretty strong"

"Please" Aphrodite scoffed "maybe to mortals but any of us real gods could wipe their clocks. All gods get a tiny bit of juice from generic offerings offered to all gods and for minor ones like Discord it's really all they need but us major gods…we need more and that only comes from worship and offerings dedicated to us alone."  
"So if he kills all their followers he will eventually kill the god" Hercules said

Aphrodite nodded

"I have no love for the gods" Xena declared

Aphrodite looked hurt "I thought we were friends, Xena"

Xena turned to her and smiled soothingly "I was about to say except for you, Aphrodite"

"And Ares" Aphrodite said feeling much better

"That is-"Xena began to protest but Aphrodite held her hand

"Don't try to deny it warrior babe. You may not like a lot of what Ares has done but that doesn't change the fact that you love him. I'm the goddess of love, when someone loves someone else I KNOW it."

"I know it too, Xena" Gabrielle said

Xena looked at Gabrielle "I've never fully understood your relationship with Ares but it's been obvious that you two do care about each other"

"You never said anything" Xena told her

"What's there to say? It's not my place to tell you who you should or shouldn't love…I was hoping that someday you would trust me enough to tell me yourself."

"Gabrielle, it was never about trust…" Xena said

"Wasn't it?" Gabrielle asked "You thought I would think less of you if I knew how you felt about Ares…you didn't trust me enough to not judge you."

Xena couldn't meet Gabrielle's eyes instead she turned back to Hercules "regardless, I can't let Ares keep killing, where is he?"

"Athens-"

"What's he doing there, that's Athena's city" Gabrielle asked

"Not for much longer" Hercules said "he's besieging it, last I heard the few remaining survivors were holed up in the acropolis, it doesn't look like they will be able to hold out much longer."

"Then I need to move fast, any idea where Argo is?" Xena asked she wished she could ask about Octavian but she didn't dare, not with Aphrodite there. The love goddess was not as dumb as she would like people to believe. Xena didn't want to believe that Aphrodite would rat her child out but her life and that of her husband was on the line so maybe…plus she was not the best at keeping secrets.

"Joxer has her" Aphrodite said "He's been convinced you weren't dead. He's been traveling Greece all year, trying to find you."

"Wait, so Joxer was actually right about something?!" Gabrielle asked "I have GOT to record this in my scroll…what's the date today?"

"No time for that Gabrielle, you need to get to Rome. I'll head to Athens and once I've dealt with Ares, I'll meet you in Rome." Xena ordered

"Please, allow me" Aphrodite said she then teleported Gabrielle to Rome and Xena into the middle of Ares' camp just outside Athens.

The guards posted outside of Ares' test started a bit at the woman that materialized out of nowhere but they recovered quickly

"Who are you?" one demanded

"What are you doing here?" the other added

"My name is Xena and I'm here to see Ares." Xena said

"Xena's dead and no one sees the god of war unless summoned" the one guard said

"The rumors of my death were highly exaggerated and he's asked me to come see him multiple times over the years."

Xena stepped forward but the guards drew their weapons

Xena drew her sword and said "okay boys, you have two options, let me pass and get this mess sorted out with Ares or I trounce you and go see Ares anyway, your choice"

They lunged at her

Xena rolled her eyes 'why do I even bother' she thought to herself and then let out her signature war cry and flipped over them.

Ares perked up involuntarily when he heard the noise. 'That's Xena's war cry' he thought, immediately he quashed the thought. It was probably just some bird…admittedly he didn't know any bird that sounded remotely like that but he wasn't the god of birds. He then began hearing another sound, one that he was intimately familiar with-clashing swords.

He went out of his tent to see what was going on and saw his guards on the ground defeated and Xena standing over them

"Hello, Ares" Xena greeted

Ares stood there in shock for minute

Then he shook his head "No, I know what this is. Athena knows she's going to lose so she's offering up some girl in a desperate attempt to save herself. I don't care how much she has changed you to look Xena, talk like her or act like her. You are NOT Xena, she's dead because Athena killed her and she's going to pay. You go back to Athens or wherever the Hades she sent you from and tell her that!"

"You're wrong Ares, Athena didn't send me. Aphrodite did, when she, Hercules and Ioleus visited my tomb in Mt. Etna…nice work on that by the way, didn't know you had an artist in you, anyway when they realized I was NOT dead, she sent me here to talk some sense into you or beat it into you if necessary."

"You think you can?" Ares questioned with a raised eyebrow inside he was conflicted…he didn't want to believe that Dite would play such a cruel trick on him but he knew how desperate she was to save her precious Hephy so she just might.

"Beat you, of course I've done it before, whether or not you'll be any more sensible afterwards is a whole other question." Xena said

"We'll just see about that" Ares responded and then he charged at Xena

Xena parried his blow and countered with a strike at her. They traded blows for a while until eventually it ended with Xena holding her blade at Ares throat.

"You lose" she told him

"I'm a god" Ares pointed out "that sword can't hurt me"

"No, but it was your rule that whenever we fought and I got you in a position where I could kill you if you were mortal it meant you lost. Hercules told me that you threw Zeus' rules out the window since he's dead but you're not dead so surely your own rules still apply" Xena countered

By now Ares was thoroughly convinced this WAS his Xena, she was the only woman who could best him in a fight.

"Yes, they do Xena" Ares admitted "come inside my tent and we'll talk further." He then stood up, his body passing right through Xena's sword

Xena lowered her blade and followed Ares into her tent.

"All right Xena, how did you do it?" Ares asked as soon as they were alone

"You remember that I captured Celestia, right?" Xena questioned

Ares nodded

"I never intended to kill her, I just needed to make her cry" Xena explained

"Celestia's tears!" Ares exclaimed "that's brilliant…but why didn't you tell me, what you were planning? I could've helped you."

"Why should I have trusted you?!" Xena countered "You always put yourself and your wants first"

"Not anymore Xena" Ares said "…I know I screwed up okay, I handled you all wrong. I couldn't let myself admit that I was in love with you, I thought it made me weak and it put you in danger-"

"From who, you?" Xena asked

"No, Zeus" Ares said

"Zeus?" Xena repeated "why would he care?"

"Centuries ago, he declared that there was no place for love in war and that I could never have a family of my own. He forced Dite and I to break up but frankly we would have done it soon after that anyway, but Ortesta…" he trailed off

"Who?"

"She was the first Amazon Queen and my first attempt at a serious relationship when Zeus found out about it he appeared to her using my form and they went to bed together but when I arrived I saw my girlfriend screwing with some other man"

"Ouch" Xena said

"Yeah ouch. I attacked him and he fought back…Ortesta tried to stop us and died in the crossfire…I'm not sure which of us was the one that struck the killing blow; because of that when you came along I couldn't admit that I loved you until it was too late."

Xena gently put her arm on his "Ares, It's not too late. I DO love you…but I can't be with you, if I'm ashamed to have my friends see us together. There is good in you Ares, let it out…come over to my side of the line."

Ares shook his head "I don't think I can, Xena…I've been on this road for so long."

"The first step is always the hardest" Xena said "but you can take it now. Pull back your army, let the remaining people of Athens live"

Ares shook his head "No way, Xena."

"I'm not dead, Ares you don't need to avenge me!" Xena protested

"It's not about vengeance anymore, it's about protecting you…and Eve" Ares declared

"Are you seriously trying to bargain with her life again?!" Xena yelled

"No, not at all. Look Athena has her faults, a very long list of faults. She's arrogant, selfish, shrewish, has NO sense of humor whatsoever-"

"Is there a but coming anytime soon?" Xena interjected

"BUT she's NOT grossly stupid. It won't take long for her to realize that if you and blondie are alive, there's a good chance that Eve is too and then you're going to be right back where you were last year only I don't think you'll be able to use Celestia's tears to throw her off a second time." Ares pointed out

Xena sighed she saw his point but not what could be done about it. "How is burning down Athens supposed to help?"

"I don't need to burn it down…I only need to kill or convert her last few remaining priests and destroy the Parthenon to make her mortal. If it makes you feel better, I'll give Pericles one last chance to surrender" Ares said

"Who's Pericles?" Xena questioned

"The leader of the Athenians" Ares answered "If he surrenders, I'll let everyone who doesn't work at the temple go."

"Do you really have to kill the temple workers and priests?' Xena asked

"Technically no, all I really need is for them to renounce Athena and agree to be watched to make sure they don't continue worshipping her behind my back." Ares said "but if they haven't done so already, I highly doubt they will now."

"What about Athena herself?" Xena questioned

"…I was actually planning on letting her live the rest of her life as a pathetic mortal because she'll hate every minute of it but if you want to kill her, I won't stop you." Ares answered

Xena shook her head "There's already too many dead, but I do want to see her face when she learns that I am not one of them."

Ares grinned, he was looking forward to that himself

"How is this supposed to help protect Eve?" Xena questioned

"It will send a message, I tried to tell them that the prophecy was self-fulfilling. Zeus tried to kill Eve and Hercules killed him, if Zeus had left Eve alone he'd still be alive right now, Athena refused to listen. Zeus had made Athena his heir in his will so when he died she took over the rule of Olympus and so they followed her in hunting Eve down. If I make Athena mortal it will send a message to all the other gods that they have two choices, they can either hope I'm right and stay away from Eve or try to kill her and meet the same fate as Zeus or Athena." Ares explained

"How, Hercules destroyed the bone of Kronos he used to kill Zeus." Xena said

"I know where the rest are, once Athena's dealt with I'll take you to get one." Ares said

"I'll get it myself, just tell me where to go" Xena responded

"You can't, the tomb of Kronos is sealed so only a god can open it and they have to keep it open but the bones are cursed so only a mortal can touch them without dying." Ares explained

"And who takes over Olympus?" Xena questioned

"…not sure exactly, Athena doesn't have a will or any heirs, so in theory it should revert to Zeus's oldest son."

"Meaning you" Xena said as her eyes narrowed certain THIS was the real reason behind Ares reasoning

"…and that's what you think this is about don't you?" Ares stated

"Yes, you've been very vocal in your desire to take over Olympus" Xena answered

"True, but if the prophecy is right and the age of gods is just about over, it doesn't really do me much good does it?" Ares responded

"But you don't believe in the prophecy" Xena responded

"I believe that it is self-fulling, and I will make sure the others see that as well." Ares responded "I'll be back, I have to make that offer of surrender to Pericles"

He then teleported away, leaving Xena to wonder what his angle was

"Pericles" Ares said as he materialized in the Parthenon startling the older gentleman

"Who are you?" Pericles asked

"Ares, the god of war" Ares answered "and I have offer for you."

Athena materialized next to Pericles "Whatever it is say no, you can't trust him Pericles!"

"Why do you always have to stick your nose in where it's not wanted…that's a very irritating habit of yours, sis" Ares said

Athena opened her mouth to respond but Pericles asked a question first "Ares, what is this offer of yours?"

"Simple, you surrender the acropolis to me and I'll let everyone who DOESN'T work or live in the Parthenon go in peace, if you refuse, I'll kill you all. You don't have to decide this minute. My army will attack at dawn, you have until then to make your choice. If you decide to accept my offer, hang a white sheet from the top of the Parthenon."

"What are you up to Ares?" Athena questioned

Ares smiled "Nothing, I don't care if Pericles accepts my offer or not, I'll get what I want either way. This is just a favor for a friend" he then vanished before either Athena or Pericles could question him any further.

The next morning, shortly before dawn Pericles ordered a white bed sheet hung from the top of the Parthenon

"Pericles, what are you doing?!" Athena screamed in rage

"Saving who I can, Lady Athena" Pericles answered sadly "the battle is lost. Hopefully Ares will keep his word and spare the refugees…the children if nothing else."

Athena threw a fireball at him but Ares intercepted it

"Now, now" he shook his head "no one likes a sore loser" he then turned to Pericles "open your gates"

Pericles repeated the order and a woman began trying to leave only to be stopped by one of Ares soldiers

"See, I TOLD you, Ares NEVER keeps his word!" Athena said

"Relax, he's simply checking to make sure none of the priests or priestesses try to seek out disguised as refugees as long as everyone is who they claim to be they'll be fine"

Sure enough after a few moments the solider let the woman pass and then he began to question the next person.

"The temple workers are waiting for you inside the temple" Pericles said sadly

Ares headed into the temple with Xena behind him, no one had noticed her yet because he was concealing her presence with his magic until just the right moment. Athena following Ares and tried to talk him out of killing her last few followers but he ignored her completely until he was facing Athena's last followers as Pericles had said they were waiting for him. They were tied up almost as if Pericles had gift wrapped them…evidently Pericles' decision hadn't been popular with the faithful.

"Relax, Sis" Ares began "I'm not going to kill you"

Athena blinked "You're not?"

Ares shook his head "Nope, I'm going to make you mortal"

"Mortal?!" Athena exclaimed "I'd rather die!"

Ares turned to the bound men and women "you hear that, your precious 'goddess' thinks so little of you that she would rather die than be like you, do you REALLY want to die for her, knowing how much you disgust her?"

Xena grinned, Athena had set herself up for that one.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Athena protested

"Suure, of course not" Ares responded sarcastically and then he turned back to Athena's followers "you have two choices, you can renounce Athena and agree to be watched so you NEVER pray or honor her again or you can die for someone that despises you for simply being what you were made to be."

Ares then held a sword to throat to the neck of the first person in the line. It was a young acolyte who hadn't even completed half of her priestess training yet.

"I don't want to die" she admitted tearfully

"Then do you renounce Athena, do you swear to never pray or honor Athena ever again, and be monitored to ensure that you keep your vow?" Ares asked

"I swear" the woman said

"Traitor!" Athena yelled and threw a knife at her but Xena threw her chakram and intercepted it

Athena watched as the chakram ricocheted off the columns, there was only one warrior in Greece who carried that kind of weapon but she was supposed to be dead.

Ares's magic faded from Xena when he caught her chakram making her visible again

"Xena?!" Athena exclaimed "you're supposed to dead!"

"Since when have I ever done what a god says that I'm supposed to do?" Xena responded

Athena sputtered for a bit and then turned to Ares "you knew? All this slaughter was just a trick?!"

"Ares didn't trick you" Xena said "I did, a mere mortal pulled the wool over the eyes of ALL Olympus…the downside with strategies like that is that you have to fool your allies as well as your enemies. Ares believed I was dead until last night."

"You're the friend he said he was doing a favor for" Athena concluded

"That's right" Ares replied "I felt that after all Xena has been through she deserves a welcome back gift. She asked me to spare as many lives as I could so you should all be thanking her for giving you one last chance to live."

He then went to the next person in line, an old priest who refused to renounce Athena and then continued down the line. When Ares finished questioning the last person, there was a bright flash of light and Athena screamed in pain as her godhood left her. When it was over she was shivering

"Cold…why do I feel so cold?" She asked

"Cause you're not dressed for this kind of weather" Xena answered, she then pulled the cloth off the altar and tossed it to Athena who reluctantly wrapped it around herself for some warmth

"Why Ares?" Athena demanded "If you knew Xena was dead, why did you do this to me, I'm your sister!"

"No, you're not" Ares declared "Aphrodite is the only sister I've ever had. This is to send a message to all other gods. Anyone who so much as looks at my chosen the wrong way will answer to me and meet the same fate as you. Come on, Xena, we're leaving"

Xena opened her mouth to argue but Ares teleported them away before she could get a word out

"Ares, you know I don't like be teleported" she told him when they arrived

"Yeah, I know" Ares said "I just couldn't stand looking at her any longer"

Xena knew well that there was centuries of bad blood between Ares and Athena so she deftly decided to change the subject "Where are we?"

"Kronos' tomb" Ares answered "I said I would bring you here"

"It doesn't look like much" Xena commented

"Not yet" Ares said and waved his hand

A large staircase appeared leading down into the tomb proper

Xena and Ares walked down the steps. When they finally reached the grave Xena reached in and pulled out three bones one for Eve when she was old enough to use it, one for Gabrielle and one for herself.

They then left and when they emerged from the tomb Joxer and Argo were waiting for them

"What am I doing here?" Joxer asked

"Hello Joxer" Xena greeted as she walked about him

Joxer jumped because Xena had startled him but when he turned around he exclaimed "Xena! I knew you weren't dead! I kept Argo safe for you" he then began looking for Gabrielle

Xena smiled "Yes, you did it's good to see you Joxer. Gabrielle's in Rome."

"Oh well, I was heading that way so-"Joxer began

"All right Joxer, you can come with me" Xena said

By the time that they had arrived in Rome, Gabrielle had already gotten Eve from the farmers that Octavian had left her with and was waiting for them at one of the inns. She was surprised but happy to see Joxer with Xena. Gabrielle didn't love Joxer the way that he loved her but she did care about him.

They left Rome soon after. Gabrielle and Xena had decided that life on the road wasn't good for Eve, children needed stability so they settled down in a small village that was close to Amphipolis and Potidea so they could easily see both Xena's mom and Gabrielle's family. Xena also claimed that she was getting too old to travel and do good deeds. A few years later Ioleus also decided that it was time for him to settle down, a few months later he and Gabrielle got married and had kids of their own.

Ares and Aphrodite were both frequent visitors over the years. Xena even agreed to marry Ares although it was a strictly mortal ceremony since Xena still refused to become a god. Ares wasn't entirely pleased with that but decided that he'd take what he could get. Hercules also dropped by on occasion though if Ares was there too things got tense.

After witnessing the examples of Zeus and Athena most of the Olympians decided to hope Ares was right about the prophecy being self-fulling filling and stayed away except for Discord, she tried to kill Eve and Xena in the process but Xena killed her with a bone of Kronos.

Xena and Gabrielle also trained Eve in the art of combat to defend herself in case the gods attacked her when Xena wasn't there. When Eve grew older though, Eli began appearing to her in her dreams. She began to travel across Greece and the rest of the world, preaching his teachings. Xena traveled with her, Gabrielle would have liked to as well but she still had young kids at home and couldn't leave them.

As time passed and people stopped worshipping the gods, they began to weaken and fade. Desperately the gods started attacking Eve. Xena, Ares, and Eve fought them off. Eve wouldn't raise her hand to defend herself against a human but she had no qualms about fighting gods with everything she had.

Most of the gods either died or became mortal, except for Aphrodite and Ares. Aphrodite remained alive because if she died, love would die with her and the world couldn't exist without love and since love needed war to stay sane, Ares remained alive as well but both gods lost most of their power.

Ares had planned on following Xena to her grave, he didn't want to live in a world where she didn't exist. When he realized that he was NOT going to die, he took some of his emergency stash of Ambrosia and tricked Xena into eating some. When she did there was a bright flash of light as Xena's youth was restored and she became a goddess.

She was FURIOUS with Ares and refused to talk to him for over a century. Ares didn't like it but he endured it since to him, it was better to have her alive and angry with him than dead and not angry at him.

Xena resumed traveling around the globe and trying to do good deeds and eventually she did forgive Ares and allow him to travel with her. Ares never did become the do-gooder that Xena was though. He always fought beside her but he didn't much care about why they were fighting, as long as he got to hit people and had Xena with him, he was happy.


End file.
